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Need the 802.11n upgrade on a CD MB?

A

anti-microsoft

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 15, 2006
1,665
6
Edinburgh, Scotland
I'm asking this 'cos on the apple websie it only mentions the 'CORE 2 DUO's' not the 'CORE DUO's'.

But does a Macbook with the older Intel chip need an upgrade?
 
Does it need it? Yes, to get wireless N speeds, you would need an upgrade. However the wireless chip in there doesn't support Wireless N, so your really out of luck, unless you find a USB wireless N card.
 
anti-microsoft said:
I'm asking this 'cos on the apple websie it only mentions the 'CORE 2 DUO's' not the 'CORE DUO's'.

But does a Macbook with the older Intel chip need an upgrade?
Click to expand...

CD does not support N, you'll need to go buy yourself a usb adapter if you want N, but you don't "need" it.

The Stig
 
whoops, i looked over that but even so, the instructions may be for a mbp but the mb still uses the same card.
 
You can do it for about $50. All you need is an Apple AirPort Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro MA688Z/A (or /B) ($49.00 USD) It is very easy to do. I've opened up my Macbook and have seen the card. I have no done it yet because I do not need it just yet. I am happy with the G speeds. Just follow the instructions. :D
 
yaroldb said:
You can do it for about $50. All you need is an Apple AirPort Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro MA688Z/A (or /B) ($49.00 USD) It is very easy to do. I've opened up my Macbook and have seen the card. I have no done it yet because I do not need it just yet. I am happy with the G speeds. Just follow the instructions. :D
Click to expand...

I've done it on several MBPs. It's a fairly simple job, the first one took me about 30 minutes from beginning to end, and that included R&R of the HD as well. There is an excellent step-by-step writeup on Macfixit or whatever the name of the DIY repair site is. Google it and you'll find it.

Apple seems to have caught wind of the "unauthorized" use of the Mac Pro AirPort kit - they're getting harder and harder to find, but PowerMax in Oregon was selling them last time I checked.

MD
 
Stiney said:
How did you use the enabler then?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Don't think she would need to enable it since the wireless card is already N..

Apple require us to "enable" our N potential wireless cards on the new MB/P's because they want our money.
 
It's a nice thought that the card is already "n" but it's the firmware which makes the card work, and it's a combination of firmware and drivers which give it 'n' capability.

The card appears in the mac as an airport extreme. You just go through the usual upgrades and because I have an AE base station, I can apply the drivers to my CD mac. I believe the n updater doesn't usually run on non C2D hardware.

Pacifist would probably get around that though.
 
So I just installed a Dell 1500 wireless card in my MacBook Pro CD. Everything is working great on the computer, but I am having trouble getting the card to activate the N portion. I am trying to use Pacifist to install the enabler, which doesn't seem to be going that well...

Any Thoughts? :confused:

Thanks Everyone

Aaron
 
I got the Dell card working. Here's what I did:

First I ran the 802.11n enabler using Pacifist.

After that didn't work I downloaded Airport Extreme Update 2007-002.

I installed it and my Dell 'n' card started working!
I'm not sure if it was the Airport Extreme download or a combination of both that and Pacifist.

I hope that helps anyone else who will do this upgrade.
*Keep in mind it will void your warranty!*
But, it is worth it to me!
 
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